Student arrested after bringing knife to school

Principal releases letter on Wednesday

A Cibola High School student was arrested after officials said she brought a weapon to class.

Action 7 News first reported about the incident on Tuesday night. Cibola High School Principal Elena Salazar sent a letter to parents Wednesday detailing the incident.

Salazar said a 14-year-old female student tweeted that she wanted to stab one of her teachers. When school officials were notified of the threat, they pulled her out of class where she admitted that she brought a knife to school.

“When the student admitted bringing a knife to campus and passing it off to two other students, she and the other two students were taken into custody,” Salazar said in the letter.

Albuquerque Public Schools officials said the weapon was a three-inch folding knife.

In addition to criminal charges for having weapon on school grounds, the student who brought the knife faces a long-term suspension and possible expulsion from Cibola. The two students who received the knife were suspended and face criminal charges for tampering with evidence.

Salazar asked parents in her letter to talk to their children about being careful on social media.

“(We) will be talking to students about the hazards of posting messages on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook,” Salazar said. “Parents, we ask that you also talk to your children about social media and explain to them that their friends aren’t the only people who see their tweets and status updates, and that those postings can be misinterpreted, especially when taken out of context. Students should be wary of ever making threats on social media sites, even in jest, because they may be taken seriously.”

Parents and students said they were shocked by the arrest.

“This school has been so good. I haven't heard of any violence that's happened here. So that surprises me, that it happened right here,” parent January Hines said.

Copyright 2013 byKOAT.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.